Irish First Friday event set at library March 4

Sunday, February 28, 2016

The Putnam County Public Library will celebrate Irish First Friday on March 4.

PCPL doors will open from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, March 4 for an adult after-hours event featuring Irish music, dance, hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar (serving beer and wine), plus a photography exhibit of Ireland.

Irish music will be performed by local talent Sarah Jylka (fiddle) and Kevin Kinney (Irish harp, flute and penny whistle) and headliners, Katherine Kragoe Smith (Irish fiddle) and Jim Smith (uilleann pipes and flute).

Erin Mann and Eileen Wilson will perform Irish dance, while the Ireland photography exhibit will feature work by Cindy O'Dell, Paula Summitt and Melanie Finney.

Kate and Jim Smith began their journey into Irish music more than 30 years ago, when Jim took on the challenge of the uilleann pipes, long recognized as one of the most difficult and finicky instruments in any genre.

Around the same time, Kate began to focus her nascent fiddle skills entirely on Irish traditional music. The pursuit of this rich musical tradition has become a mutual passion. It brings with it a notable sociability, in the form of "sessions," informal gatherings of musicians for sharing tunes.

Kate and Jim help maintain the longest extant session in Indianapolis. The weekly Tuesday night session is entering its 17th year at The Golden Ace Inn, which is owned and operated by the McGinley family, immigrants from Donegal, who opened the pub in 1934, shortly after the end of Prohibition.

There is a Putnam County connection -- Jim was born in Greencastle while his parents were attending DePauw. Altogether eight members of Jim's family have attended DePauw, including Jim and Kate's daughter, Molly, who graduated in 1996.

Jim and Kate Smith farm in Shelby County, growing traditional Hoosier crops -- corn, soybeans and beef cattle.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: